Some social network websites provide application developers with the ability to create applications that extend the functionality of the social networking website to provide new ways for users to interact with each other. For example, an application may provide an interesting way for a member (also called user of the social networking website) to communicate with his friends, or allow users to participate in multi-player games, or collect some interesting information such as news related to a specific topic and display it to the member periodically; another application may provide a “newsfeed” about the activities of the member to that member's friends.
Social networking websites typically provide mechanisms (referred to as channels) for members to communicate with each other, e.g., emails, invitations, notifications, newsfeeds etc. Social networking applications typically make use of the various channels to provide useful features to the members, such as sending out emails about the member's activities, displaying a newsfeed to the member's friends, and so forth.
The success of such an application generally depends on how many members install and run the application. Many application developers rely on an expectation of a “virtuous cycle” to build up the user base for their application: the application provides a certain functionality that becomes increasingly beneficial as more and more members adopt the application. Users of such applications thereby have an inherent incentive to install and use the application. Some application developers attempt to exploit member behavior and the availability of the various channels as resources to increase their user base. For example, when a member tries to run an application, the application may not enable full functionality until the member sends out messages to the member's friends inviting them to use this particular application. Applications also try various mechanisms to get member's attention such as sending notifications or emails or by occupying space on the webpage viewed by the member while viewing the social networking website.
A typical member of the social networking website is likely to spend only a limited amount of time on the website, and as a result, has a generally limited amount of time to review messages, invitations, notifications from application, as well a limited amount of time to search for applications the member would like to use. An excessive number of invitations and messages from applications only cause the member to ignore such messages; if messages from abusive applications become too frequent, then the member learns to distrust or ignore all such communications, thereby impeding the distribution of all applications, not merely abusive ones. Also, a typical member prefers to limit how many applications appear on the webpage when viewing the social networking website.
Since the total number of applications available on a social networking website can grow to be very large and each application is trying to get the member's attention and trying to increase its user base, the end result is that members can get inundated with information from applications that they may not be interested in. Members would like to see and focus on information that they like and be able to avoid or minimize the information that they do not like.